Where's My Signal Gone?

[fastglass]

Thanks for the informative replies, muchly appreciated.

@ sonnetpete

I do have an in-line needle/beep meter, but havent used it on the motorised setup - I've used dishpointer_com to find roughly south, and used the motor setup on-screen settings to tune the dish E/W to try finding any signals. (ps. I did find that the scales on the dish didn't seem to quite match up with each other, in that 53deg latitude didn't match up to 37deg elevation, according to the manual!)

The angle of the photo may be deceiving. When/if the dish ever points around to 42E (for example, Turksat), the dish needs to creep over the eaves. The height of the setup enables this, with only centimeters between the dish and the roof.


@ satelliteman

The mast is an aluminium aerial mast which I picked up in B&Q... it does seem rather thin, and the dish does wobble around a bit in the brereze. I'm thinking I may need to upgrade to a scoffold pole afterall.


@ Mickha

Yeah, personally I think it's a mixture of two things with the elevation on the fixed dish...

(i) The elevation scale bolts and fixings are crap to say the least, which came with the dish, and the scale itself might as well not be there, it's so feint!

(ii) The wall bracket is that from a $ky Minidish, and seems to go off-plumb a bit, once the bigger dish is attached.

Following from my reply to satelliteman above, I may end up getting a scaffold pole for the motorised dish, and using part of the aluminium mast for the fixed dish.

***

The main problem I have with the setup is that, it's awkward to gain access to the mast, in that I am using a set of 4-section multiway ladders as a roof-ladder against the garage roof tiles (in photo) and even then struggling to keep balance and take the weight of the fixings. Add to this the fact that I'm not at my most confident when above floor-level, I just wish it was all installed and out the way!

Dying to start scanning the skies, but until then, I'm just going to have to be patient!

Cheers guys . FG

 

[sonnetpete]

@ sonnetpete

I do have an in-line needle/beep meter, but havent used it on the motorised setup - I've used dishpointer_com to find roughly south, and used the motor setup on-screen settings to tune the dish E/W to try finding any signals. (ps. I did find that the scales on the dish didn't seem to quite match up with each other, in that 53deg latitude didn't match up to 37deg elevation, according to the manual!)

The angle of the photo may be deceiving. When/if the dish ever points around to 42E (for example, Turksat), the dish needs to creep over the eaves. The height of the setup enables this, with only centimeters between the dish and the roof.

FG

Well........

I do sympathise with the problem of working at height. Luckily I can access my set up from the middle of an old two section loft ladder. I would seriously consider using the meter to try and sort out your motorised dish. However, blowing up your thumbnail on screen and applying a straight edge to the pole I would say it's pointing about 3-4° downwards, at the very least. You can compensate for this by decreasing your latitude settings on the motor (and therefore pointing the motor slightly more upwards), though I am loathe to suggest this if you can get hold of a more suitable pole. You could also try resiting the T bracket up a bit towards the eaves so it provides more support.

I have used a needle and tone meter to set up all my progressively larger and more complex systems, it is relatively easy but requires time and patience. When I first started I used a really thin 90° angle wall mount and it gave me no end of grief because it wasn't up to the job of carrying the motor and dish. So, it's definitely a good idea to upgrade that pole. Good luck, persistence pays in the end!!

 

[fastglass]

As a resident 'up north', what sort of quotes would I be looking at to get an installer in to help find a signal... any ideas?

Cheers

 

[Lazarus]

Excuse me!

Nottingham is half-way to the South for some of us ..................

 

[Mickha]

Depends which dish you want setting up, the fixed, the motorized, or both?
Have you tried gently tilting the whit dish backwards to get a signal?

 

[sonnetpete]

Excuse me!

Nottingham is half-way to the South for some of us ..................

To an ex Durham lad, it's almost in London!! Though obviously a long way to the North of me now (Thank you Google Earth)

 

[fastglass]

Ok, but 'Midlands' is just, well, nowhere... although, seing as I 'laff' and not 'larf' (etc.), I class myself as northern

I think I'll get a 'pro' in to sort the motorised plate, and then fettle the fixed dish myself to pick up a satellite out of Eastern-limits of the motored system (I've dropped the motorised dish down the pole to provide a sturdier attachment, whilst still being able to pick up 28E for the British channels) - I've managed it plenty of times in the past, just not for the past fortnight!